1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for managing components in a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer program product for a failover process for network adapters.
2. Description of Related Art
In many computer systems, such as server data processing systems, the availability of network connections is crucial. These network connections also are referred to as links. In these types of systems, a backup network adapter is often present in addition to the primary or master network adapter. If the master network adapter fails, the server may switch over and use the backup network adapter. This switching of adapters is also called a failover action.
In some customer environments, the ability to rapidly switch to a backup network adapter interface in the event of a link failure is an absolute requirement. These customers are typically running highly specialized applications, such as real-time data gathering, and require failover times to be in the sub-millisecond range. In the past, certain network solutions, such as dual-ring fiber distributed data interface (FDDI), facilitated this rapid failover capability at the network adapter hardware layer. As these customers migrate from FDDI technology to other network technologies such as Gigabit Ethernet, their failover requirements remain constant. However, other network technologies do not currently define or implement a similar rapid failover capability such as dual rings.
Current software-based solutions to this problem include: the Advance Interactive Executive (AIX), Etherchannel Failover technology, and High Availability Cluster Multi-Processing (HACMP) network address takeover. Both of these solutions fall far short of the millisecond failover time required by certain customers because of inherent design limitations in the solutions.
One available hardware-based solution is a two-port Gigabit Ethernet network adapter solution. This solution consists of a two-port Gigabit Ethernet adapter with specialized adapter firmware that implements rapid port failover in the sub-millisecond range. However, this system is a highly specialized and relatively expensive solution.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for providing a high-speed failover network adapter system without requiring specialized and expensive hardware.